The present invention relates to an internet message system that enables a user to electronically transmit a greeting message to any e-mail address over the Internet from a remote location. More particularly, the present invention provides an internet message system maintained within a housing and configured such that the greeting message may include the background area surrounding the housing. The housing may be in the form of a kiosk or similar structure. The greeting message provided by the internet message system can include text, a still image, a video segment, an audio segment or a combination thereof., both in real-time or selected from a pre-loaded collection. In a preferred embodiment, the internet message system also comprises a payment system which requires the user to submit payment prior to accessing the greeting message portion of the internet message system.
Taking photographs, filming videos and sending postcards are among the ways individuals remember and share their vacations and other leisure activities with friends and family. Enjoyment of a particular point of interest, such as a national park, amusement park, resort, campground and the like, typically results in that individual desiring to send a greeting to another person. In the past, the sending of a postcard or written letter, sometimes with the inclusion of a photograph or two, has been the common, if not only, method of conveying a message. Thus, most vacation and leisure destination locations offer postcards, usually from a display rack or kiosk, depicting an image or images of the point of interest. The user purchases one or more postcards, writes a message, and mails it, sometimes taking several days to reach the intended recipient.
Within the last few years, the increased use and popularity of personal computers, as well as ease of access to the Internet, has resulted in the Internet becoming an alternate means of transmitting greetings, photographs and other messages. Today, many computer users have at least one mail address to receive mail electronically via the Internet. Indeed, with the onset of e-mail, mail delivered by the letter carrier has been referred to as xe2x80x9cslow mailxe2x80x9d. Currently, several on-line sites offer electronic postcards that can be selected and personalized with a message and transmitted directly to a desired e-mail address, thereby reaching the recipient almost immediately, rather than several days. While some sites require the user to purchase an electronic postcard, other sites, such as Blue Mountain and Warner Brothers"", have free on-line shops. In addition to the nearly instantaneousness delivery feature of e-mail transmitted over the Internet, e-mail also is environmentally friendly since no hard copies are produced, thus saving paper. In addition, no gasoline or other fuel products are used in the delivery of e-mail in contrast to postal delivery, thus lessening the impact on the environment.
The prior art is replete with postcard dispensing devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,636 to Sansone et al. discloses a postal kiosk system in which a user is provided with a mail piece, such as a postcard, once the user supplies the name and address to which the mail piece is to be sent. The kiosk then dispenses a finished mail piece to the user with the address printed thereon. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,386 to Barber et al., an apparatus is disclosed for automatically producing postcards incorporating a self-portrait of the user integrated into a pictorial digitized background stored in a computer database.
A drawback to both Barber et al. and Sansone et al. is the production of printed postcards in tangible form which requires the user to send the greeting by regular postal mail. In addition, although Barber et al. provides the user with a postcard having the user""s self portrait, the background offered by Barber et al. is a standard stored background, rather than a real-time background that can be incorporated in the self-portrait of the user. Neither Barber et al. or Sansone et al. enable the user to transmit the postcard by electronic mail.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,594 to Wright et al. is directed to an electronic greeting card store and communication system comprising two personal communicators and an electronic mail server. The first personal communicator includes a memory for storing the electronic greeting cards from the supplier, a receiver, a controller and a transmitter. In operation, the user of the first personal communicator selects and receives an electronic greeting card from the memory which then is generated by the controller for greeting and sent by the transmitter to the electronic mail server which processes the selection and forwards it to the second communicator. An obvious and significant drawback to Wright et al. is the requirement that the user must carry the first personal communicator, rather than being able to access a standalone unit in a remote location. Another problem with Wright et al. is that the greeting cards available for transmission are selected from memory, rather than being a real-time self-portrait of the user which integrates the background surrounding the user into the electronic greeting.
Despite the attempts in the prior art, a need still exists for an internet message system that enables a user to transmit a greeting electronically from a remote location to any e-mail address. Such an internet message system should be capable of incorporating a real-time self portrait of the user or users integrated with the background surrounding the user(s). Such an internet message system also should be capable of enabling the user to composes an electronic greeting message from a variety of options, including still images, video segments, audio segments, text lines and combinations thereof, both in real-time and from pre-loaded collections. In addition, such an internet message system should enable the user to submit a photograph via a scanner for incorporation into the electronic greeting message. Such an internet message system also should be easy to use and have the capability of offering payment means in order to activate the system.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an internet message system which enables a user to transmit a greeting electronically from a remote location to any e-mail address.
It is an additional of the present invention to provide an internet message system which offers an electronic greeting message incorporating a real-time self portrait of the user or users integrated with the background surrounding the user(s).
It is another object of the present invention to provide an internet message system which enables the user to compose an electronic greeting message formatted from a collection of pre-loaded still images, video segments, audio segments, text lines and combinations thereof.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an internet message system which enables the user to compose an electronic greeting message formatted from real-time still images, video segments, audio segments, text lines and combinations thereof.
It also is an object of the present invention to provide an internet message system which allows the user to submit a photograph via a scanner for incorporation into the electronic greeting message.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an internet message system which enables the user to compose an electronic greeting message using a combination of real-time, scanned and pre-loaded formats.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an internet message system which includes the use of a payment means in order to activate the system.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an internet message system which is housed in a self-contained, weather proofed unit, such as a kiosk, for installation in a remote locations such as nature parks, amusement parks, campgrounds, resorts, shopping malls and the like.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an internet message system which is simple and easy to use.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part of the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following specification or may be learned by practice of the invention.